President Donald Trump criticized Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton after he announced he will not object to the certification of the 2020 election Wednesday.
“How can you certify an election when the numbers being certified are verifiably WRONG,” the president tweeted Monday morning. “You will see the real numbers tonight during my speech, but especially on JANUARY 6th. @SenTomCotton Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!” (RELATED: Tom Cotton Breaks With Group Of GOP Senators — Will Not Oppose Electoral Vote Count On January 6)
How can you certify an election when the numbers being certified are verifiably WRONG. You will see the real numbers tonight during my speech, but especially on JANUARY 6th. @SenTomCotton Republicans have pluses & minuses, but one thing is sure, THEY NEVER FORGET!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2021
Trump later tweeted that the “Surrender Caucus” in the Republican Party “will go down in infamy as weak and ineffective ‘guardians’ of our Nation, who were willing to accept the certification of fraudulent presidential numbers!”
The “Surrender Caucus” within the Republican Party will go down in infamy as weak and ineffective “guardians” of our Nation, who were willing to accept the certification of fraudulent presidential numbers!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2021
Trump is slated to hold a rally Monday evening in Dalton, Georgia, in support of incumbent Republican Georgia Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.
WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 2: U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement on the introduction of the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy (RAISE) Act in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on August 2, 2017 in Washington, DC. The act aims to overhaul U.S. immigration by moving towards a “merit-based” system. (Photo by Zach Gibson – Pool/Getty Images)
Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz will reportedly lead a group of 11 senators in objecting to the certification Wednesday.
Cotton, a longtime Trump ally, broke with his peers in the Senate over the weekend.
“The Founders entrusted our elections chiefly to the states—not Congress. They entrusted the election of our president to the people, acting through the Electoral College—not Congress. And they entrusted the adjudication of election disputes to the courts—not Congress. Under the Constitution and federal law, Congress’s power is limited to counting electoral votes submitted by the states,” he said in a statement. “Thus, I will not oppose the counting of certified electoral votes on January 6. I’m grateful for what the president accomplished over the past four years, which is why I campaigned vigorously for his reelection. But objecting to certified electoral votes won’t give him a second term—it will only embolden those Democrats who want to erode further our system of constitutional government.”
Cotton did say that a commission should be established to study any irregularities that arose from the 2020 election and called on the Senate to hold additional hearings following the runoff elections.